Heavy rains target Florida as drought here persists

Hurricane Dennis works its way north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico, dumping up to 10 inches of rain along the west Florida coast today and then is projected to move inland later Sunday, preceded and accompanied by additional heavy rains over Mississippi and Alabama. Once over land, Dennis is expected to weaken to a tropical storm Monday and become a broad low pressure system as it moves into the lower Ohio Valley Tuesday. As the low pressure area drifts east the following few days, Chicago is expected to lie on the northern fringe of the associated showers as they spread into southern and central Illinois midweek. The passage of a cool front Wednesday could produce scattered showers over northeast Illinois, but no significant relief to the now “extreme” drought is in sight. Daytime highs around 90° next week with generous periods of sunshine will mean continued significant evaporation and loss of water for stressed vegetation.